


Snowflake

by merryghoul



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Bedtime Stories, Fluff, Gen, Mythology - Freeform, Retelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-23
Updated: 2013-06-23
Packaged: 2017-12-15 21:36:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/854308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merryghoul/pseuds/merryghoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once, David met the snow girl known as Snowflake.  Now he's able to tell Henry his story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snowflake

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tptigger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tptigger/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Snowflake](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/23704) by Andrew Lang. 



> Slavic Mythology & Folklore tag removed 2/2/14 (only because there are no actual Slavic Mythology characters tagged for this fic).

"Gramps, I'm pretty sure I've read every story in this book," Henry said as David tucked him into bed.

"But you said August put another story in your book."

"I've read that too."

David gulped.  "Well, maybe I can still find a story in this book you haven't read."

David flipped through the book, bypassing the stories and people he knew were already in Storybrooke, until he saw a page with an elderly couple building a snowman.

"I remember this."

"Remember what?"

"Snowflake."

"Snowflake?  Who's she?"

David avoided Henry's gaze.  "She was one of the most magical people I ever met.  The prince me, I mean.  And literally.  Literally, she was one of the most magical people I ever met."

"Gramps, I know you love Mary Margaret, no matter how badly you say it."

"Yeah."

 

The old man's name was Ivan and the old woman's name was Mariya.  They lived in a snowy area of the Enchanted Forest, a place where no evil could touch it.  It was protected by a mysterious spirit known as the Berehynia.  So powerful was the Berehynia's magic that it was she that shielded her sacred lands from the Evil Queen's curse. 

Ivan and Mariya lived near other couples that had children.  These children were fond of making snow people. 

"I wish we could make snow people like the children, Mariya," Ivan said one day.

"Since when has our age prevented us from making snow people?"  Mariya grabbed Ivan's hand.  "Let's grab our clothes, go outside and make a snow child.  We can even pretend it's our own child."

Ivan nodded, and the two went outside to make a snow child.  They both decided the snow child would be a girl, complete with a dress.  Children and passers-by gave Ivan and Mariya stares, but they ignored them. 

As Ivan and Mariya made the snow girl, the Berehynia was watching.  She knew Ivan and Mariya were unable to bear children.  They had tried several times when they were younger, but they were unable to conceive.  They also found no opportunity to be able to adopt any parentless children in their community.

The Berehynia decided to do what nature couldn't for Ivan and Mariya: give them a child.  She let her magic waft to the snow child. 

The snow child blinked, causing Ivan and Mariya to step backwards. 

Snow began to fall off the snow child, revealing a human child wearing a shimmering white dress underneath.  Once all the snow had fallen off of her, the child hugged the people who made her. 

"Look, we have our very own Snowflake!" Mariya said.

Mariya's statement eventually became the child's name: Snegurka, or Snowflake to everyone who knew her.

 

"So how did you meet Snowflake, Gramps?  On your way to slaying a giant?  A dragon?"

David hesitated.  "It was a diplomatic trip to where the Berehynia lived, actually.  I was trying to enlist her to help us trap Rumpelstiltskin in the dungeon.  The Berehynia refused.  I think she did.  You couldn't see her, but you could feel and hear her.  I think I was one of the few that ever actually got to talk to her inside or outside of where she dwelled."

"So she was like a ghost?"

"Kind of.  She told me as long as she didn't have a conflict with Rumpelstiltskin, Regina, Maleficent or anyone the land considered 'evil,' she would refuse to get into any of their affairs.  She was like the living version of Switzerland.

"And as soon as I was leaving her lands, I ran into Snowflake."

 

Before David could leave the snowy lands, a bird crossed its path.  It was the size of a peacock, but it resembled the colors of a flame rather than any of the color variations of a peacock.

David's horse briefly got on his hind legs when the bird flew by him.  The snowy lands were naturally bitter and cold, so the heat of the bird was a shock to him. 

After the bird flew by him, a girl who looked to be around the age of 16, wearing a shimmering white dress ran in front of him.  She was drenched in water and somehow the water on her body wasn't freezing.

"Hey, are you chasing that bird?"

The girl stopped and caught her breath.  "Yeah.  If I don't catch it then our town will be consumed by it."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Snegurka.  But please, call me Snowflake."

"I'm David."  By then David's horse had settled down.  "Would you like a ride?"

"I'd love to.  But we have to hurry.  Not only will our town cease to exist, but I might die."

Snowflake climbed onto David's horse, and the two chased after the bird.

Along the way, Snowflake told David about the day she was born.  David learned that Snowflake grew very rapidly after her birth—an inch a day, or so her parents told her.  She was about four and a half feet before her first winter.  After surviving 16 winters (and the other seasons, which she found less pleasurable), she was now five and a half feet.  Because of her miraculous birth, her parents eventually stopped becoming the outsiders in their community.  And because of her strength and speed, she was eventually chosen to defend her village against the bird that stopped David and his horse in their tracks, a bird she called the firebird. 

The horse was not pleased with Snowflake dripping all over his coat.  He was shivering and shook his tail a lot, enough to cause David to pet his head and whisper in his ear.  "Please keep going," David said to his horse.  "I promise I'll get you a blanket when we get back to the castle.  And a lot of apples.  But not Regina's." 

When the firebird was in sight, David had his horse speed up to catch up to it.  But before David could formulate a plan for Snowflake and himself to stay on his horse, Snowflake jumped off the horse and landed on the firebird, managing to pin it in the snow.

David stopped and got off his horse. 

"What are you doing?"

Snowflake turned on her back, holding the firebird in her arms.  The color was draining from her body.  She was wetter than ever.

"Don't you see, David?"

"No."

"I'm melting."

"I get that.  You're made out of snow and the firebird's melting you."

"No.   This is a gift from the Berehynia.  I'm the only person that can handle it."

Snowflake and the firebird merged into one.  Snowflake regained the color in her skin, and she stopped melting.

"I'm the guardian of the firebird.  I have to protect my village from the firebird, and in turn it gives me life.  It keeps me from melting away at all times of the year.  It was the most sensible thing the Berehynia could've done."

 

"And that was the last time you saw her?"

David nodded.  "It was.  And I don't think she's been transported to Storybrooke, thank goodness.  For her village's sake, I hope she's still holding on to her firebird.

"Well, that's tonight's bedtime story.  Time for you to go to bed."

"Thanks for the bedtime story, Gramps."

"You're always welcome, Henry."

**Author's Note:**

> Not only is this story inspired by Andrew Lang's version of "Snowflake," it's also inspired by myths of the firebird in Slavic mythology. I decided to combine the two and avoid the ending of Lang's "Snowflake" because I didn't want to end the story on a sad note for you, tptigger.


End file.
